Big Brother Canada Winner: “I can’t say that this is honestly the best way to win the competition”

May 03, 2013

After months of living in front of dozens of cameras and being watched by millions of Canadians, Jillian MacLaughlin, the teacher from Nova Scotia teacher walked out of the Big Brother Canada house as the show’s first ever winner! Of course, not without a little controversy. In case you live under a rock, here’s what happened: During the voting, Topaz accidently voted for Jillian when she meant to vote for Gary. As fate would have it, Jillian ended up winning…by one vote!

So what does Jillian think of the outcome? Here’s our interview, just hours after she won the $100,000 grand prize!

First things first, I’m not a fan of Peter. Jillian: Neither am I.

He called you a “villian,” do you think you’re a villain, Jillian?Jillian: I gave myself that nickname, I do not want him to have credit for that. In the house, I said “I’m like a villian.”

What’s the past twelve hours been like for you?Jillian: It’s been crazy. I haven’t slept much and I’ve been doing press since 5:20am!

What did you think when you saw Topaz’s vote?Jillian: I thought it was another twist or a joke. I was thinking, “I do not need this right now. When she started protesting her vote, I was thinking that maybe it was staged. I didn’t know what they were trying to do? I was so confused. I would have been so mad that they were playing with my heart.

Now there’s lots of discussion about who deserves to win, how does that make you feel? Does it take away from the feeling of winning?Jillian: I can’t say that this is honestly the best way to win the competition. But at the same time, I do feel really deserving of this win. People are going to be critical regardless. If Gary would have won, people would be critical of his second-life in the game. Seven people voted in the jury and I know that some people were bitter about the moves that I made, but I think they were big moves and they should have respected it. At the end of the day, Gary is just as deserving of this win as I am, but I don’t think I’m anywhere below Gary, I’m on par with him.

A lot of people think that you just did Emmett’s dirty work. Do you agree?Jillian: I 100% disagree with that, I really do because when I was in power, I made a move that was best suited for my game. They were independent of Emmett. He was always supportive of my decisions and I was of his. When he got rid of Andrew, I had to be supportive of that because the week before, when I got rid of Peter he was supportive of that, even though it wasn’t the best thing for his game. I think we used to the power to our advantage when we had it and we supported each other in every decision.

What move in the Big Brother Canada House surprised you the most?Jillian: Gary surprised me when he nominated Liza and Tom. I think it started a revolution!

Of putting up big players?Jillian: Yeah, then I put up Peter and Alec, I’m bad too!

Let’s talk about living in the house, do you end up forgetting about the cameras?Jillian: You do always know that the cameras are there but you don’t really realize that anybody is watching or even cares about the nonsense that you’re getting on about. I mean, who really cares about our conversation? that’s the way I looked it. I didn’t think anybody would be watching our boring and dry conversation. You don’t realize how big it is.

Looking at the cast, as a teacher, you’re really the only government employee on the show. Were you nervous about what the show would do to your career?Jillian: Absolutely! Wasn’t I the crazy person who never stopped talking about being portrayed poorly? I was so worried about it and thought about it constantly. The only people I’ve talked to so far are my parents, my siblings and my best friend and the first thing we talked about was how nervous I was about getting a teaching job and they said that I was okay and that I wasn’t a bad person.

Who are you going to be staying in touch with now that the game is over?Jillian: I will definitely be staying in touch with Talla, she’s a freakin’ sweet hart, I love that girl so much. Andrew and I are going to get pedicures once a month. I love Andrew. Emmett and I will be staying in touch. Those are the three people that mean the most to me in the house. But I know that no matter where I go in Canada, if I’m in a city that has a Big Brother Canada houseguest, I’m going to be getting in touch with them.

Slice hasn’t announced a season two for Big Brother Canada yet, but I’m sure lots of people are thinking about auditioning. What did you do in your audition to stand out?Jillian: You know what, I have no idea I was just myself, I didn’t have a costume or try to be loud. I just showed up and talked and was myself. You don’t have to be a crazy personality and just because they have crazy personalities I think everyone thinks that they have to be like that too, just to get the attention. I’d say be yourself, they want normal, every day people too.

Comments

May 4, 2013

Anon

Why was Gary allowed to enter the jury house form bonds and talk about potential voting for the remaining household? This game was favoured heavily for Gary to win; he came back knowing Jillian would not get any votes at the end and also talked to the jury and lied to Jillian once he returned telling her she was loved in the jury house. Blatant obvious cheating by production to do a power shift and not sequester the jury if they knew before hand it was going to happen. A sudden twist when all the jury met has not happened in BB USA. They do not get a chance to talk game outside the house and come back. Gary should have not been allowed to return.

Also after your vote is cast you cant ask for a redo its too late. After you find a result you dont like its too late to cry redo. Had she said something before her vote was announced then I can agree to let her redo it but when its announced its too late. How many times have people locked in an answer to a game show and realized their mistake and it was too late to undo it then.